Shadow of the Blood Moon
by fullsailnate
Summary: Harry is taken from his house the night after Dumbledore leaves him there. He grows up to be something that neither side could have predicted.
1. Prologue: Safety in the Shadows

Prologue: Taken into the Safety of Shadows

* * *

"How long must we wait?" Asked a dark female voice.

"I don't trust the humans to be quiet, Anara" A dark male voice answered. "We should wait until they sleep. Then, we can proceed at our leisure."

"You don't have that long." A wiser voice broke in. "Notice the wards the old one left?" The younger man nodded yes. "Look very closely."

The woman noticed it first. "No way!" She was amazed. "How did we miss that one?"

"I have no idea," the man said, "but we need to get the lightning-child quickly, or that ward will prevent us from ever finding him again."

Anara had been waiting for this. "I'll get him." She said. Before either of the men could react, she stood smoothly. As she stood, the last rays of sunset disappeared beyond the horizon, and night began. The woman walked confidently across the street, and rang the doorbell of the Dursley house, number four Privet Drive.

Petunia Dursley answered the door. "Yes? May I help you?"

The young-looking woman smiled a predatory smile. "Yes, Mrs. Dursley, I believe you can." The woman's bared teeth suddenly elongated, and the woman caught Petunia in a powerful grip. "Don't worry. This is just a bad dream." She whispered, and sank her sharpened teeth into Petunia's neck.

Petunia passed out immediately, a useful side effect of a vampire's bite, and Anara stopped drinking. She wasn't there to kill the woman; she just needed some of her blood. She could feel the blood magic reaching out, and she allowed it to wash over her, accepting her as part of the boy's family. Now, she could do what she had come to do.

Listening intently, she heard heartbeats all over the house. There was a fat man in the next room, apparently sleeping; the quick thrum of a baby's heart floated down from upstairs, but the tell-tale rhythm of the lightning-child was not easily heard. Lightning-children had six chambers in their hearts instead of four, making their rhythm very different from normal humans. Forcing herself to block out the normal heart beats, she finally found it, and it was enough to make her ill. The lightning-child had been shoved into a broom closet beneath the steps. The woman's eyes turned red. She was angry, but had pressing business. She could feel the hidden ward beginning to press on her. She had to take care of this quickly, before her blood-link with the boy faded. She silently padded down the hall, and opened the cupboard. The boy was still wrapped in his blanket. He hadn't even been changed. Anara saw red. The people in this house didn't deserve a child at all, let alone a lightning-child. Anara picked the little boy up in her arms. She decided, on the spot, that the Dursleys would be dead by morning.

The sudden movement woke the boy up. Bright green eyes snapped open under the symbolic mark on the tiny boy's forehead. "Hush, child." The woman cooed, "We're here for you. We're taking you from this horrible place, my young prince."

The boy smiled tiredly. He began to fall back to sleep, but something strange happened just then. The boy's eyes snapped open again, but they weren't green anymore. Black voids greeted her red eyes, and Anara knew what was about to happen. She had come prepared, but was hoping that she could get away from the house first.

The boy laid his head on her chest and Anara felt a pulling sensation, making her feel very weak. The sensation passed after about two minutes, but the weakness stayed for a few more. Anara sighed. The lightning child was satisfied, but she had to get outside before she decided to combine her sudden hunger and the palpable anger at the lightning-child's treatment. She didn't want to terrify the child by draining the humans dry in front of him.

Outside the door, Anara pulled a glass vial from her belt, and drank the crimson contents. The blood partially replenished her energy reserves, and she felt much better.

Still holding the lightning-child, she made her way back across the street. Her male counterparts were waiting for her.

"So, did he…?" The older man seemed unsure how to ask his question.

The woman understood the intent behind the question. "Yes, he did, Erik. It was a very odd sensation, if you must know."

"So," the younger man asked conversationally, "how does it feel to be the magical mother of a lightning-child?"

"Odd." Anara said. "I can feel him inside my heart, Valeros. It's an odd warm feeling. I can't really classify it. I think I might have felt it once before, when I was human, but I have forgotten the feeling. Now that I feel it again, I wish I had never forgotten it. It's very strange, but I find it pleasurable."

"Since you're his mother, Anara, what will you name him?" Erik asked

"The first lightning-child to be born in this millennium?" Anara actually laughed. "I have to name him after his predecessor, don't I?" She looked down lovingly at the child sleeping in her arms. "Rest well, my lovely Blitz. Welcome to the world of the vampires. We will protect you, and prepare you for your destiny."

"What about the humans?" Erik asked. Anara smiled; a terrifying smile.

"Kill them."

* * *

Jacob was excited. A lightning-child! As an elder vampire, few things could bring him surprise, but he had been very young when the last lightning-child had been killed.

Lightning-children were a magical legend to most species of magical being, but to the vampire nation, they were the most revered of all vampires. One of only three types of vampires to walk the daylight, they were the only species of vampire that could pass for a normal human, and had no obvious weakness. Dementors, the soul-eaters, could be driven away by exceptionally strong positive emotions, and although no wizard knew it, were deathly allergic to platinum. Lethifolds, the flesh-eaters, could be repelled by the same spell that worked on Dementors, and mercury would eat their flesh like acid. Lightning-children, characterized by the prominent scar-like mark on their foreheads, were magic-eaters, the most refined form of vampirism. Any sort of magical energy directed at the lightning-child would be eaten, so even spells designed to cause pain would only give strength. Also, they didn't seem to have any specific weakness to any metal or inert material. Vampires regarded them as honored leaders, often placing them in positions of royalty.

Jacob was a little annoyed that the third daughter of his clan was chosen to be the boy's mother, rather than the first, but he couldn't go against the council. He felt that Anara was still too young to be responsible for the care of a lightning-child. She'd been turned only sixty years earlier. Compared to the first daughter of his clan, Hestia, she was little more than an infant. Hestia was almost one thousand years old, and infinitely more qualified for the job, but the seers had spoken about the youngest daughter of Starshine, and Anara had been chosen. Perhaps the lightning-child would not connect with her. If that were true, Hestia could try and become the boy's mother. Jacob didn't hold much hope about that. In the last thousand years, the seers had been wrong only once. Anara would certainly be the boy's mother, and he would have to make the best of it.

Damon, the eldest of the vampire council, easily a thousand years older than Jacob, entered the room. "Anara has made contact with the lightning-child, Jacob. This is a great day."

"Hestia would have been the better choice, Damon." Jacob replied.

"There was a good reason for Anara to be chosen, Jacob." Damon shot back. "She was the only member of our race that could overcome the blood-wards surrounding the boy."

"Blood-wards?" Jacob asked. "Why would there be blood-wards?"

"The lightning-child is only one-year old, Jacob. His abilities manifested far too early, and during an attempt on his life. The wizard-lord of Hogwarts castle misunderstood the mark on the boy's forehead, and placed him with his aunt, weaving blood-wards to protect the boy from the followers of the man who tried to kill him." Damon replied.

"And why was Anara able to break them?" Jacob demanded.

"Anara began life as Sarah Evans, as you remember." Jacob nodded. "The boy's mother was Lily Evans, Anara's granddaughter." Jacob was amazed by the coincidence. "She could ignore most of the blood-wards because she was related to him. The wizard cast a different sort of blood-ward however, keyed to the distinct nature of the boy's aunt, so Anara had to bite the woman to key herself in."

"So that's why Anara was chosen to be the mother of the lightning-child." Jacob felt better. "She's already his relative by blood, so the blood-bonding wouldn't work with anyone else."

"She didn't even need to bond him. They were already related, and that is the primary reason, but she was chosen for her skill with the blades also." Damon said. "The boy will need intensive training in the art of assassination to meet his destiny, and Anara is the greatest blade-maiden in the entire nation."

"Does the lightning-child have a name?" Jacob asked.

"We were not made aware of one." Damon said. "The three that we sent to bring the child watched the family for an entire day, but the adults never mentioned a name. Anara, as his magical mother, has named him after the last lightning-child. The boy is called Blitz now, and that will be his name among the Vampire Nation. If we ever find his human name, he will be made aware of it, but he will always be Blitz to us."

"Blitz…" Jacob tested the name, and found it pleasing. "It doesn't exactly fit with the name of my clan, but he will be welcomed."

"Actually, since he is a lightning-child, he will grow up to be a high father." Jacob said. "As young as he is, the boy stands a good chance of developing the necessary hormones to be a breeder." It was a terrible curse of being a vampire, but most vampires could not reproduce. It was a tradeoff for their near endless lives. Every generation, one or two breeders might develop, allowing the race to continue. "If that is the case, he will eventually father a whole clan of lightning-children. He'll need his own clan name."

"Really?" Jacob was amazed. There had been no new clans formed in all of his long life. "May I choose the name of his clan?"

"As he is your grandson through your third daughter, you may choose his clan's name." Damon conceded.

"Blitz…" Jacob consulted the world around him, and noticed that the moon was casting a particularly long shadow across his grounds. "Moonshadow." He said decisively. "Blitz will father the Moonshadow clan."

"I find that name wonderfully appropriate." Damon said. "The perfect counterpart to Starshine, after all, is Moonshadow."

"So, what is the boy's destiny?" Jacob asked. "I mean, aside from becoming one of the rulers of the vampire nation?"

"Destiny, my friend, is a very fickle woman." Damon said. "The seers refuse to comment on the boy's future, they only say that he must learn to fight and kill, or he will not survive."

"And so he will come to us, and Anara will teach him how to fight, and he will learn to kill." Jacob sighed. "It really is too bad that he must learn to kill. Lightning-children are revered so highly because they can feed without killing."

"Ah Jacob, you have misunderstood me." Damon said. "He will not need to kill for food. Even we don't do that anymore. The seers have foreseen a great battle, one that he will decide the outcome of. He must either kill or be killed, so he must know how to end a life properly, and with the proper respect."

"Thank you, Damon." Jacob said. "Now I understand. So, when can I meet this lightning-child.?"

"Anara is bringing him before the council in three days time." Damon answered. "In this instance, it would be best to leave Blitz in solitude with his mother. They need to strengthen their bond, and the boy needs to regain his strength."

"I agree, Damon," Jacob said, "though I would like to see my grandson earlier, it is probably best to leave Anara to nurse her baby."

* * *

Three days passed quickly for Anara. Blitz was still very weak from the ordeal with the man who had tried to kill him. He would wake every few hours, fill his belly with Anara's magic, and drift back to sleep. Anara had two servants on hand to help her keep her strength up. The two young women were muggles so Blitz wouldn't try to drink their magic, but they provided enough blood to keep Anara's reserves full. Blitz never took much of her magic, but her instinct to keep her energy up always made her very thirsty as soon as the boy finished.

The evening found Anara and the lightning-child standing outside the council chamber. The council had convened earlier, during the day for the first time in two hundred years, and were waiting for the presentation of the lightning-child.

Anara didn't wait long. Less than a minute after her arrival, the doors opened silently. Carrying her infant, wrapped in an Acromantula silk cloth, which Blitz had sucked dry of magic, Anara walked formally into the chamber.

The leader of the council, Damon, spoke first. "Welcome, daughter of Starshine." Damon was almost giddy with anticipation, but the formality of the presentation had to be observed. That meant asking a dumb question. "What news do you bring before the council?" Of course, the council had asked her to be there, and knew exactly why she was there, but the presentation ceremony was a very old tradition.

Anara had been trained in the presentation ceremony. "Elder Damon, high father Jacob, honored fathers of the vampires; I come to you this evening, as the sun wanes from the sky, to present my son. He is called Blitz, and he is of the lightning-children."

Young Blitz, it seemed, had no patience for the ceremony. The next part of the ceremony should have been Damon's desire for proof, but Blitz decided that he was hungry just then. As his eyelids dropped, Damon watched intently. When they opened, midnight black voids met the red eyes of the elder. Damon was mesmerized. The eyes of a lightning-child changed when they fed, like most vampires, but the black pools were exclusive to lightning-children. There was no question of proof. He couldn't even say the words. They would have sounded stupid after the proof had already been given.

Anara giggled at the disbelieving looks on the faces of the council. Her young child didn't make her feel weak anymore, just thirsty, and she could ignore that for a bit. "My child has been through a great ordeal, but has emerged stronger, if not victorious. I present him to you, for your acceptance into my family. Do you acknowledge my child, Elder Damon?"

The question was directed at the Elder, but for some reason, the entire council answered in unison. "Yes, Anara. Your child is accepted into the Vampire nation."

Blitz, who was known to wizards as The-Boy-Who-Lived, and to his human family as Harry Potter, drifted off to sleep in his mother's arms.

* * *

At the moment of Blitz's acceptance into the Vampire Nation, Albus Dumbledore began to cry. The morning after Harry had been taken, Albus had entered his office to hear the shrieking of the alarm spells that he had placed on the Dursley household. Panicking, he ran to Hogsmeade, where he quickly apparated to the muggle neighborhood.

He arrived in time to see one ambulance leaving, and the bodies of a woman and a small boy being removed from the house. Fearing the worst, Albus dug in his pocket for a small object.

The stone that he pulled out was glowing brightly. That meant that Harry was still alive, just missing. Albus was relieved, but only for a moment. Somehow, someone had managed to circumvent his wards, which suggested a very dark magic of some kind, and that meant death eaters. Harry was still alive, but would not remain that way for long unless they could find him quickly.

Albus, along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, had been closing in on the boy since then, getting closer with each passing day. As the sun set on the third day, their hunting spells had brought them within twenty miles of him. As night began to fall in earnest, the stone suddenly dimmed, and then stopped glowing altogether. According to the stone, Harry Potter was dead.

Albus Dumbledore was a man who had faith in prophecy. He didn't understand how this could happen. He knew that Voldemort was not dead, so how could the one that he had marked be?

Sadly, Albus called a meeting of his Order. They had to know what had happened. Remus Lupin was hit the hardest by the news, coupled with Sirius Black's betrayal, but everyone felt the loss to a certain degree.

Seventeen years would pass before Albus Dumbledore would find out that he had been wrong when he reported that Harry Potter had been killed. Ironically, the one person who wanted him dead the most, would be the first to discover him to be alive.

* * *

In the safety of the Vampire nation, Blitz Moonshadow grew up quickly. With a steady diet of Vampire magic, his body began to develop unnatural strength, speed, and agility. By the time he was eleven, he was a formidable opponent for anyone in his class of novice assassins. At the age of fifteen, he learned how to kill a man with the proper respect. At age seventeen, he joined the Shadow Stalkers, the elite team of vampire assassins. By the age of eighteen, he had accumulated thirty-eight successful missions for the shadow stalkers, and was asked to lead the unit. He accepted, and made the Shadow Keep his home. His mother, a worthy assassin herself, took on the role of his personal bodyguard. Blitz was happy to keep her close.

One day, soon after Blitz's nineteenth birthday, the Vampire council sent word that a man called Voldemort was going to pay them a visit. He had come to the vampire council to ask for help in eliminating some of the more troublesome obstacles in his path to victory. The council had denied Voldemort's request for an alliance, but decided that he should be allowed to request assistance from the assassins if he wished. They left the stalkers involvement strictly up to Blitz, refusing to speak to the wizard further.

And with a feeling of breathless anticipation, ladies and gentlemen, that is where our story truly begins.

* * *

A/N: Don't hate me for starting a new story! I couldn't get it out of my mind, and I was really trying to add a chapter to Draconus. Now that this story is down on paper, I can finally concentrate on Draconus, and maybe even get a chapter or two uploaded. Here's hoping! 


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting the Snake

Chapter 1: Meeting the Snake

* * *

Voldemort looked up at the impressive structure. Shadow Keep, where the vampire council had sent him, was very small for a castle. Despite its small size, Voldemort liked the foreboding aesthetic that the structure offered. 

The solid black stonework, combined with the towering battlements, made one shiver with dread just looking at it. The castle, more aptly called a fortress, was only large enough to house forty or fifty people, but the defenses looked able to repel small armies. The ancient wards added their powerful magic to the keep's defense, and made the building seem nearly impenetrable.

Voldemort decided that, once the vampires had served their purpose, he would kill the occupants of the fortress and take it for his own. After all, vampires, despite their usefulness, were just animals. They didn't deserve such a magnificent structure.

* * *

Blitz was practicing tactics in his main hall with three vampires trying, unsuccessfully, to subdue him when the warning chime echoed through the spacious rafters. Blitz stopped his practice and got ready to meet his guest. He had two witches in his service, and they had told him about his prospective visitor, but he wanted to see for himself if the wizard was as bad as he had been told. 

Blitz made a habit of keeping people who didn't know him off balance. When Voldemort was escorted in, the throne that he usually sat in was empty. Blitz was holding a wand, and was busy levitating a tapestry into place. Voldemort, having never seen a lightning-child, would assume that Blitz was a servant. Blitz could tell a lot about a man by the way he treated other people's servants.

If Blitz was expecting Voldemort to be courteous to a servant, he was to be disappointed. "Crucio!" was the first word out of his visitor's mouth. Blitz hadn't expected that. The initial rush of pain told him that the wizard was powerful, and took his breath away before he could begin to drink it in. The spell was canceled quickly, apparently just meant to get his attention. "Slave! I've come for an audience with your master! Fetch him quickly. I, Lord Voldemort, do not like to be kept waiting."

"I'm sorry sir," Blitz said, not turning to face the wizard, "but the master will not be available for a few more minutes. He is currently dealing with a very important matter, and was not expecting your arrival until later this evening. If you had given us more warning, perhaps the master would be ready for you."

"You're very impudent for a servant." Voldemort growled. "Perhaps I should do your master a favor, and punish you for him." Voldemort raised his wand, and Blitz finally turned to look at him. Whatever spell Voldemort had been preparing to cast died on his lips as he stared at the emerald green eyes of the boy he thought he had killed eighteen years earlier.

"I do apologize for my rudeness, but the master prefers to punish his servants himself." Blitz said. He noticed the look of horrified disbelief on the face of his guest, but couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why it would be there.

"Potter?" Voldemort choked out. "I killed you! You're supposed to be dead!"

Blitz had no idea who Potter was. "I'm sorry. I believe you have me confused with someone else. I have never met anyone named Potter before, and I've certainly never been killed before. I would remember something like that."

Voldemort realized what must have happened. The boy had survived the attack, but was picked up by the Vampires, trained to be nothing more than a servant. "This is glorious! Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world, is nothing more than a common servant! I can simply not wait to meet your master, Potter. I must congratulate him personally."

Blitz suddenly had heard enough. It was bad enough that the man had no manners. It was terrible form to gloat over someone else's misfortune. It was time to get down to business. His posture changed subtly, switching from that of a passive servant to a stance more at home on a predator ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. "Very well, then let's begin." Voldemort started slightly at the change in Blitz's attitude. "Voldemort, allow me to introduce myself. I am Blitz Moonshadow, leader of the Shadow stalkers. The council of elders informs me that you wish to do business with me."

Voldemort had the sudden sinking feeling that he had made a terrible error. "You can't be Blitz Moonshadow! You're human!"

"Perhaps I _am_ human." Blitz allowed. If the man didn't understand what a lightning-child was, it wasn't his problem. It also meant that Blitz had a distinct advantage, in that the wizard would not expect him to be almost immune to spells. "Nevertheless, I am Blitz Moonshadow, and I speak for the Shadow Stalkers. If you have business to discuss, then let's discuss it; otherwise, you may leave."

Voldemort wasn't sure how Harry Potter had come to lead the most elite group of assassins in the magical world, but could see that the boy was being truthful. Thinking about it, Voldemort got measurably happier. Obviously, since the boy had no idea who he really was, he had been insulated from the wizarding world for his entire life. "Very well, let us begin our negotiations. In recent years, laws regulating what kinds of magic can be done have been passed. Creatures, such as vampires, are being persecuted; their rights and voices stripped away at an alarming rate." It was always a good idea to make it personal. People were easier to persuade when they thought things would affect them directly. "I aim to change all that. I want to make sure that all people have a voice in the government. Unfortunately, the current government is too insular to even consider my proposals. That is why I need your help. I need certain members of the government to be eliminated, so I can replace them with my own people, but I can't allow wizards to be blamed for it. The repercussions would be severe if the deaths were linked to my associates in any way."

"In other words," Blitz said flatly, "not only do you need assassins, but you need scapegoats as well. Blaming their deaths on Vampires would lessen the repercussions on you, but it would bring unwanted attention on my people. So far, this plan of yours isn't selling itself very well."

"The people to be eliminated are in the positions of department heads; places important to getting laws passed." Voldemort said, trying to salvage his slip of the tongue. He hadn't expected the boy to consider the negative implications of his proposal so quickly. The boy was sharper than he'd given him credit for. "With them out of the way, I can place my own people in their positions, and reverse the laws they have passed against your kind."

Blitz smiled sarcastically. "My kind? You seem to be laboring under the illusion that Vampires are somehow inferior to you; less than human, even. You probably regard us as little more than animals; not the best attitude to have when dealing with us. If you put people who share your beliefs in places of influence, how will that improve our situation?" In truth, the situation wasn't nearly as dire as Voldemort was making it out to be. The Vampire Nation had its own government; the council of elders made the laws, and it was not answerable to the wizard government. Blitz had never noticed any ties between the council and the Ministry of Magic. Still, Voldemort didn't seem to understand that vampires were outside the scope of wizarding law. Beyond the rogue vampires, the clan-less ones, wizards were scarcely aware of the existence of the Vampire Nation. "Wizarding racism always amazes me. I suppose next you'll be telling me that pureblooded wizards are superior to muggle-born ones."

Voldemort had not come to debate semantics with an animal. The boy was trying to have a philosophical discussion, but was dancing around Voldemort's proposal. Voldemort was done selling his idea on merit. It was time to wave money under his nose. The Shadow Stalkers were mercenaries, after all. They worked for money, not ideals. "I have a list of fourteen targets. I will pay you one-hundred thousand Galleons per head. That's one million, four-hundred thousand Galleons. Do we have a deal?"

Blitz changed the subject; he wasn't done talking yet. "When the council told me that a man named Voldemort was coming to see me, I thought they were joking." Blitz took a seat in his throne, finally. "My witches told me about you, about how evil and powerful you are. I have a question for you. Why would a man of such great power, a man who inspires so much fear, choose such a cowardly name?"

Voldemort's eyes glittered with repressed rage. He was not accustomed to such disrespect, but he needed the assassins. "What?" he hissed.

"I am fluent in six languages, Voldemort. Your name may be frightening here in Britain, but in France you would be laughed at. Translate the name into any Romance language, and the base words make a very strong statement. Vol de mort: Flies from death. For one so eager to dispense final judgment, it would be bad form to choose the name Voldemort. In order to take life, you must understand and accept death. The name Voldemort shows, for the entire world to see, that you are afraid to die."

"I fear nothing, Potter." Voldemort had his wand up, once again pointing at Blitz. "If you aren't interested in helping me, even for the large amount of money I will be paying, perhaps I'll just kill you. Perhaps the rest of your assassins will be more responsive to my offer."

"You fear nothing…" Blitz tested the words in his mouth, and decided that the man was lying. "Everyone is afraid of something. If death is what you fear, then it's nothing to be ashamed of." Blitz made a show of considering something. "I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, however. Let's test whether or not you fear death, shall we? It will be a simple test, just to see if you are lying. I can't deal in good faith with a liar."

"I am in no mood for games, Potter." Voldemort growled, raising his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"

Blitz's eyes widened at the use of that particular spell. Keeping his ability to drink the power of the spell secret, since Voldemort obviously had no idea what it meant to be a lightning-child, Blitz ducked out of his chair, dodging the spell by a narrow margin. "You would use _that_ spell?" Blitz whispered, mortified. "You would rip the soul from its body, destroying any chance of a peaceful rest in the afterlife?"

"I am the Dark Lord Voldemort." Voldemort hissed, displaying his full power. "I do as I please, and no one can stop me. You will either accept my offer, or I will kill you."

Blitz was angered by the wizard's lack of respect for the soul. "Let's see if you truly are afraid of death." He said, standing up. "Kira! Katusha! Show him to the exit. Make sure he gets there quickly."

Voldemort leveled his wand once more, prepared to cast the killing curse, but something jumped into the path of his wand. Voldemort's ideas of killing the Potter boy were suddenly replaced with ideas of how fast he could run to get away from the boy's guardians.

Kira and Katusha, the pair of Nundu that Blitz had called, snarled at the wizard, and charged. Voldemort turned tail and ran from the hall. 'Just as I thought,' Blitz thought to himself, 'he's terrified by the thought of his own death. If he wasn't so worried about saving his own life, he would realize that I had told my pets not to kill him. I wonder who this Potter person is.'

Blitz had new questions for his witches. He wandered off to find them.

* * *

Voldemort escaped the massive cats by a small margin, and congratulated himself on surviving two Nundu. After all, it took almost a hundred wizards to subdue just one. 

An outsider would know immediately that the wizard had a superiority complex. The Nundu had been instructed to show him to the exit, not kill him. If they had been told to kill, he probably would not have made it out of the castle.

But those thoughts didn't occur to Voldemort; he just convinced himself that he was too powerful to be killed by any magical beasts.

Voldemort called for his Death Eaters. For the moment, he didn't have the Vampires on his side. He would force them into an alliance before long, but the Potter boy had too much influence on their society at the moment, despite being a human.

Once again, an outsider would marvel at Voldemort's perceived superiority. He had somehow convinced himself that there was nothing special about Blitz Moonshadow, even though the boy was the leader of an elite assassin squad at the tender age of nineteen.

"My faithful Death Eaters," Voldemort addressed his followers once they had arrived, "tonight has been a disappointing night, but not without its revelations."

"My lord?" Bellatrix LeStrange asked tentatively. She was normally a very confident woman, but something about the Dark Lord made her nervous. "Did the vampires respond favorably?"

"No Bellatrix, they did not." Voldemort said. "The vampire council was unmoved by my request. They believe that any alliance they would form with me would only last as long as they were still useful." Voldemort laughed; a high-pitched, evil sound. "They are correct, of course, but I was not expecting the animals to realize my plan for them so quickly. I asked them if I would be allowed to approach the Shadow Stalkers, and they agreed to allow the leader, a Blitz Moonshadow, to hear my request, and possibly take the job offer I had."

"So," Lucius Malfoy said, his voice as oily as ever, "the vampire assassins will take care of our esteemed department heads, and we can put our agents in their place."

"Crucio!" Voldemort hit Lucius with a Cruciatus curse. "I will speak, Lucius. Afterward, you may babble if you wish. Do not interrupt me."

Voldemort ended the curse. Lucius scrambled to his knees. "Apologies, my Lord. It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Voldemort hissed. "Blitz Moonshadow was receptive of my proposal, but was offended by the way I treated his servant." Voldemort saw no reason to tell them that he had poisoned the offer from the start by cursing Blitz Moonshadow himself. "He refused my offer."

Avery smirked. "I'm sure my Lord _persuaded_ him to reconsider. No one refuses the Dark Lord!"

"Avery." Voldemort shifted his focus to the short wizard. "Open your mouth again, and I will _persuade_ you to keep it shut." Avery blanched, and shrank away from his master. "Blitz Moonshadow and I, as it turns out, have something of a _history_ together. Eighteen years ago, I murdered the Potters at Godric's Hollow. The Potter boy somehow survived the spell that I thought had killed him; the same spell that destroyed my body. The vampires appear to have adopted him, and have named him Blitz Moonshadow."

"But master," Wormtail whined, "surely he can't be the leader of the Shadow Stalkers! He is just a child!"

Voldemort became fed up with the interruptions. Flicking his wand, he forced Wormtail into his rat form, and banished him towards Nagini, his snake. The little rat squeaked, and began to scamper away from the snake, who gave chase. The giant snake was obviously thinking that it was dinner time.

"The next one to interrupt me will wish for my killing curse." Voldemort growled. "Harry Potter doesn't know who he is, or his history. He doesn't know that I killed his parents, or that I tried to kill him. He was simply offended that I had treated his servant poorly. I tried to convince him that I meant no harm, but he set both of his Nundu on me." The assembled death eaters gasped. As powerful as they considered themselves, they knew that Nundu were not good creatures to be chased by. "I showed him a courtesy; I didn't kill either of his Nundu. They will recover." He had barely escaped with his life, but his death eaters didn't know that, and it made him seem more powerful to his servants.

A delusional personality like the dark lord's was dangerous to couple with a superiority complex. By the next morning, he would have himself convinced that he had _allowed_ the Nundu to live.

The dark lord sat down, and stopped speaking. Bellatrix LeStrange approached him cautiously. "What are my Lord's wishes?"

"Severus." The greasy-haired death eater approached, bowing. "Tell the old fool what you have learned here today." Voldemort laughed. "He will no doubt try to convince his Order that the Potter boy was _kidnapped_, and they will try to _rescue_ him. An attack on the Vampire Nation might turn the blood-suckers to our side. Perhaps they will even approach me!"

"My Lord is clever." Severus said. "I shall tell the fool tonight. He will, no doubt, want a full report on whatever we discussed in this meeting anyway. He is always eager to know what my lord is interested in."

"The rest of you," Voldemort said, "I want to know why it was reported that Harry Potter was dead. He's not a vampire; he's still a wizard. His blood is still warm, so why was he thought to be dead? Find out for me. Also, find out how he survived; I need to know the specifics of his survival so that I may rectify my mistake."

* * *

The news that Harry Potter was still alive was of some concern to Severus Snape. When the boy had survived the killing curse, throwing the dark lord from his body, Snape had decided to switch sides in the hope of saving his neck. He was already playing double-agent; he just had to give Dumbledore a bit more information than before. With his information, the Order of the Phoenix had helped arrest more than half of Voldemort's inner circle, and Snape himself was granted amnesty. 

Thirteen years later, when the blood of Cedric Diggory was used to restore Voldemort's body, Snape was convinced that the dark lord would eventually win, and had switched sides again. With inside information on Dumbledore's strategies, Voldemort was able to make sure that his forces always had the upper hand. The next four years were a study in how perfectly the power of the dark lord could spread.

With the news that the boy was still alive, Snape was once again forced to consider what to do. If the boy could convince everyone that he was dead, yet remain alive, what did that mean? Obviously, the vampires had hidden the boy; he had been "killed" when he was too young to even speak. Complicated spells and wards would have been beyond any sort of comprehension the boy might have had. But, if the vampires had raised him and put him in a leadership position, young as he still was, what did that mean? Was he the next Dumbledore? Was he being trained to supplant Voldemort as the next Dark Lord?

Snape didn't know. He would have to continue as he was for the moment, and wait for more information. If the boy was powerful, he might be able to destroy the dark lord. If he was powerful enough to kill the dark lord, perhaps Snape could help the Potter boy; the vampires could save him from either side. He had to think carefully.

With his neck on the line, Severus Snape headed for Grimmauld Place. He had a job to do, and, until he figured out what to do about the boy, he had to do it.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I know I'm supposed to be trying to finish "Fourth Power," or even adding a chapter or two to "Draconus," but this story has taken over all of my thoughts. I'm gonna put some serious effort into this one, and see if I can get all ten chapters posted In a relatively short time period. Maybe I can even have it finished by October or November. It might be nice to finish one, for a change. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and nobody state the obvious, please. Harry might have killed Voldemort in this chapter, but that would make the rest of my story kind of pointless. 


	3. Chapter 2: Ordered Chaos

Chapter 2: Ordered Chaos

* * *

Number twelve, Grimmauld Place was a depressing house. Everything about it, from the snake-motif of the doorknobs to the house-elf heads on the walls, conspired to suck the happiness out of everyone who entered it. Sirius Black, the owner of the house, swore that the house itself was a gigantic dementor. 

It wasn't only the house that was depressing Sirius Black, however. Most of it was the crushing feeling of failure. Almost eighteen years ago, he had willingly given his godson to Hagrid, intent on dealing with the traitorous rat, Peter Pettigrew. His revenge hadn't worked out as planned, and he had ended up in Azkaban. Earlier in the year, Peter Pettigrew had been captured and interrogated, and the awful truth had come to light. Among the crimes that Peter had confessed to, and perhaps the most heinous of them, were the crimes that Sirius Black had already been convicted of.

Sirius had been immediately released from Azkaban, only to hear that his godson had died shortly after Dumbledore had left him at the Dursley home. Sirius grieved for his godson, but went to work for the Order of the Phoenix, even allowing them to use his family manor for their Headquarters. Albus Dumbledore was very grateful for the assistance.

The years in prison, coupled with the apparent death of his godson, had changed Sirius Black. Gone was the happy jokester, always ready to laugh at pranks and jokes. In his place was a bitter, sarcastic, and very angry man. In their dispositions, Sirius Black and Severus Snape were almost identical.

One thing hadn't changed about Sirius Black, however. He _hated_ Severus Snape with a passion. The only thing that had changed about their relationship was that Sirius no longer had any tolerance for the potions master. Any sarcastic words from Snape were immediately met with painful spells. The years in prison hadn't made Sirius any weaker, and he was still the better duelist of the two. After a few remarks, Severus had learned not to talk to the man. Shortly thereafter, Dumbledore had decided that it would be easier if Snape gave his reports in private.

Severus hated to admit it, but he needed Black to hear the news more than anyone else.

* * *

"Ah, Severus." Albus Dumbledore greeted the man in his private study. "I'm pleased to see that you made it through your meeting unscathed." The old man poured him a cup of tea. "Milk and sugar?" 

"No thank you, Headmaster." Snape replied. He really needed to get this meeting together. In order to accomplish his mission, he needed the rest of the Order to hear the news at the same time. "I have some….Disturbing news. The dark lord has notified me of one of his greatest secrets, and we must decide, as a group, what to do. I have been told to keep this information to myself, but the entire Order must be made aware of it. The information is of such importance, that I believe that I should tell the Order personally."

Albus considered the odd request. Severus had never asked to speak to the Order. He seemed to enjoy having almost nothing to do with them. "Severus, if I may ask, what sort of news is too important to allow me to address the Order for you?"

"I can only say one thing, Headmaster." Snape had to throw the old man a bone, just to make sure that his position was clear. "Harry Potter isn't as dead as we all thought."

The change in Dumbledore's posture was immediate. Relief and worry warred for dominance in his eyes, and he leaned forward in his seat. "Do you mean to say that Harry is alive? Do you have any specific information, Severus? Where has the dark lord been keeping him? Is he being tortured?"

"The dark lord does not _have_ him at the moment, headmaster, but he does know where he is. That is all I can say for now. The rest will have to wait for the Order meeting. I will explain everything I have learned then."

Dumbledore was clearly not happy about that, but there was nothing to be done. Snape was a master occlumens, and even Dumbledore's strongest spells couldn't break his shields. "Very well, Severus. I shall call the meeting immediately. If Harry is alive, he needs protection, and since Voldemort is now aware of Harry's health, we must move quickly."

Snape was glad that the man was allowing him to address the Order. He hated every single one of the Order members, and despised being in the same room with them, but the delay in giving his report was very welcome.

After all, he needed to figure out what to tell them.

Telling them about Potter's predicament was more dangerous than Snape was comfortable with. Only three months earlier, a young Gryffindor girl had joined the Order. Hermione Granger was her name, and she had trained to be part of the slayers guild. She killed vampires for a living, and consequently knew more about the Vampire Nation than any other wizard in Britain. Selling the story to her would be much more difficult than the rest.

* * *

It was only two hours later that many disgruntled wizards were seated in the dining hall of Grimmauld place. Some of them had been engaged in other activities, and a most of them had been asleep. None of them were happy to be there. 

Sirius Black was most certainly not happy about the meeting. Albus had told him that Severus wanted to speak. Sirius didn't want anything to do with the man, but the way the old man's eyes had twinkled had convinced him that he had to attend. Anything that made the old man THAT happy had to be good news, and good news was something everyone needed.

When the last of the stragglers had entered the room, Albus Dumbledore swept in, Severus Snape following him. "Good evening, my friends." Albus said. A few people groaned. It was well after midnight. "I have called you here because we have an emergency." Many people blanched. Someone important had been killed. "Severus has asked to deliver this news personally. Severus?"

Snape took the floor. "Earlier this evening, the dark lord visited the ruling body of the Vampire Nation." Several people gasped in horror, but Snape noticed that Hermione had stifled a laugh. "He also approached the Shadow Stalkers." At that, most people looked confused, but Hermione lost the smile, a look of growing horror coloring her face. "His plan was to have the Shadow Stalkers assassinate the fourteen department heads of the Ministry."

"That would be extremely expensive." Hermione interrupted. "I doubt he would have the funds to pay them what they would ask for a job that size."

"What are you on about, Hermione?" Charlie Weasley asked. Of all the Order members, he was one of the few who didn't seem afraid of the girl. "What are these 'Shadow Stalkers,' and why is this important?"

"If you ever meet one, you'll understand why it's important. Of course, understanding how dangerous they are is the LAST thing you will do." Hermione snapped. "They're assassins; the most talented assassins in the entire magical world. None of their contracts have ever escaped them. They're killers, all of them." Hermione turned back to Snape. "They're also mercenaries. A job like Voldemort wanted them for would cost several million galleons. I doubt even liquidating ALL of his assets would give him the money needed."

"Entirely correct Miss Granger," Snape said, "and also entirely irrelevant. The leader of the Shadow Stalkers was unable to meet the dark lord immediately, so the dark lord enjoyed himself by torturing the vampire's servant. When Blitz Moonshadow arrived, he was extremely offended that the dark lord would presume to torture someone else's servants. Apparently, the two had a small argument, and Voldemort was chased from the property by a pair of vampire guards." That was a lie, but Snape doubted anyone would go searching for the boy if a pair of Nundu were known to be prowling around.

"So what?" Sirius yelled. "Who here thinks that a group of assassins NOT joining Voldemort is a bad thing?" Sirius had enough. "What makes this news so god-damned important?"

"The boy that was being tortured makes this news important." Snape said. "After his meeting, the dark lord informed us that the servant that he had tortured was Harry Potter."

Sirius' anger popped like a balloon, leaving nothing but stunned disbelief. In truth, Sirius looked something like a goldfish. "What?"

Let it never be said that Snape didn't know how to tell a lie. "According to the dark lord, the vampires took Potter from his home the night that they killed his family. Potter has been trained as a servant to the Shadow Stalkers his entire life."

"That explains why Harry was able to be taken from his home." Albus said. It made much more sense, now that he had the information. "If a vampire could bite Petunia, then that vampire could overcome the wards I placed."

Sirius didn't care about any of Dumbledore's explanations; he only wanted to know one thing. "When are we leaving?"

"Leaving?" Hermione drawled. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"To rescue Harry, of course!" Sirius snapped. "He's my godson; my responsibility. I have to save him!"

Hermione laughed coldly; a musical, icy sound. "Relax your hackles, dog-man. If Harry is with the Shadow Stalkers, you will not rescue him by force."

Dumbledore came to Sirius' aid. "We have to try, Miss Granger. If Voldemort knows where Harry is, it's only a matter of time before he attempts to kill him."

"That's perfectly alright with me, Dumbledore." Hermione said. "Let him try. If the Shadow Stalkers really have Potter, they will kill anyone who means him harm. If Voldemort tries, then this little war of ours will be over. Anyone who goes to Shadow Keep with the intent to harm its occupants will not leave there alive."

"Miss Granger," Albus explained, "for reasons which must remain secret, I believe that only Harry Potter has the necessary power to destroy Voldemort completely. If he's been trained as a servant, then he will not have the skills he needs, even if he has the power. We need him here, so we can train him."

"You NEED to relax, old man." Hermione spat. "If Potter is at Shadow Keep, you need to stop and think before you send some sort of 'rescue mission.' If you don't, you can send as many people as you like. They will all die in what I'm sure would be called a 'heroic attempt.' If you're lucky, the vampires will let one or two survive, as a warning to the rest. They will NOT give their servant up without a fight."

Hermione smirked suddenly. "And even if you do manage to kill one or two, the entire Stalker guild will turn on you. Can you fight an army that you can't see? Nobody knows how many Shadow Stalkers there are. No one has ever seen more than two at a time. They would wipe this group of yours out within a week. The only way to get Potter away from them is to either steal him, or strike a bargain with his master."

"We can just kill ALL them all!" Sirius shouted, pounding his fist on the table. "I don't care how many there are! I want my godson back!"

"Have you ever fought a Shadow Stalker, mutt?" Hermione was not a fan of Sirius. In fact, she hated him. "Even easier, since I already know that you haven't, have you ever fought a real Vampire?"

Sirius had never even seen a real vampire, but he wasn't going to tell Hermione that. "How do you know I haven't fought a Shadow Stalker?"

"You're alive."

"Maybe I killed it." Sirius defended.

"Not possible." Hermione said. "I kill Vampires for a living, and I'm telling you that even I'M not nearly good enough to fight even the weakest Shadow Stalker. If Potter is in Shadow Keep, He's surrounded by the strongest of them. You wouldn't last more than a few seconds."

"How would we go about stealing him, Miss Granger?" Albus asked. He didn't know much about vampires, and even less about hunting them. That was why the Granger girl was so useful to him. "If these Vampires are as dangerous as you say, then I would much rather not antagonize them more than necessary. I do not believe that Harry's master would just give him up, so stealing him would be the best course of action."

Hermione went into lecture mode. "I would recommend sending as few people as possible, and making sure that they aren't regular wizards. Vampires are sensitive to the smell of human blood; they have a harder time detecting animagi and non-humans, since they can't use them for food." Hermione tapped her chin. "If you have any sun-stones, I'd send them along. They won't kill a vampire, but vampires are uncomfortable in their presence. A few stones, and the Vampires might not want to approach."

"Anything else, Granger?" Sirius growled. He was ready to storm the Keep already.

"Do not take silver into their Keep. The Vampires have detectors everywhere, and they will interpret the presence of silver as a threat. I would also recommend that you leave your wands here."

"What? Why?"

"So you don't get the urge to use them." Hermione smirked.

"They will need to take their wands, Miss Granger." Albus said. "If things do not go according to plan, they may need to defend themselves."

"Alright, it's their funeral. Just remember, there are not many spells that can seriously harm a vampire." Hermione shrugged.

"I would also like you to accompany them." Albus said.

"No." Hermione said. "Absolutely not. I've met a Shadow Stalker before. I barely escaped with my life." Hermione pulled up her shirt, revealing the long, jagged scar across her belly. "I'm not going to put myself in that situation again. You can send whoever else you want, but I'm not going."

"Please, Miss Granger, I must ask you to go with them." Albus said. "Harry is the most important asset we've ever needed, and the mission stands a much better chance of succeeding if you are there to supervise."

Hermione was not a nice person on the surface, thanks to her slayer training, but she was a kind-hearted soul. "Alright, I will lead this little raid of yours, Dumbledore, on one condition. The mutt has to stay here."

"No way!" Sirius shouted. "Harry's my godson! I'm going with you, and that's final!"

"Unfortunately, Miss Granger, Sirius is the only Animagus that we can send; Minerva is not a fighter." Albus apologized. "If it's truly better to send animagi than wizards, then Sirius needs to go with you."

"Fine." Hermione spat. "Sirius, if you're going with me, you'll do as I say. Is that clear? If you try to do anything more than defend yourself, I'm going to Portkey out, and leave you there by yourself. Your anger is not worth my life. Do you understand me?"

Sirius nodded. Like it or not, Hermione knew much more about Vampires than he did, and she seemed genuinely scared of this particular mission.

"Alright, Dumbledore," Hermione huffed, "you've got two adventurers, but you need to give me at least two more. I need a few for backup in case things get touchy."

"Remus, Nymphadora, will you accompany Miss Granger?"

"Sure!"

"No problems here."

"Bad idea, sending the werewolf, Dumbledore." Hermione said. "Vampires don't get along with werewolves very well. I honestly don't know what they would do to him if they found him in their Keep, but it wouldn't be humane."

"Well, I'm not too worried, Hermione." Remus said. "They can't touch silver either, so they can't use it on me."

"I think it's a mistake, Lupin. They have special knives that can kill you just as quickly as silver, but I won't stop you from going." Hermione said. "Alright; all of you get some sleep. I don't care what you do; take a potion, knock yourself over the head with a mallet, whatever. But you need to sleep; we leave in eight hours."

"We need to leave now!" Sirius yelled.

Hermione shot him a glacial stare. "YOU may want to walk into a vampire enclave in the middle of the night, when they are almost certainly awake, but I would rather wait until they go to sleep. Vampires are NOCTURNAL, you idiot!"

Sirius flinched at her tone. But as he replied, some of his old humor returned for the first time in four years. "Well, maybe we should do it your way, then."

* * *

"That's it?" Sirius asked. The group was standing outside the dark structure of Shadow Keep. Sirius wasn't impressed. "It's so small!" 

Hermione smirked. The wizards were denser than she'd thought. "That's it. Shadow Keep is very small for a fortress. Remember, though, that vampires are nocturnal. Think about it; why build your home in the sunlight? My guess is that there are several levels of underground rooms." Just to mess with the wizards a little, she added "It's probably the same size as, if not larger than, Hogwarts."

"So, oh mighty slayer," Sirius sneered, "How are we going to get in? I don't see any windows or hidden doors."

"There aren't any, so you can stop looking. The only way in, or out, is the front door." Hermione said.

"There must be some way in that doesn't include suicide, Hermione." Tonks said. "It's a castle. What fun is a castle without a secret passage?"

"It's not a castle; it's a keep. It's designed to be the last defense. If you have to fall back to your keep, there's no escape; the defense has to be perfect. Secret passages would only be security risks." Hermione said. Despite her quirks, Hermione liked the spirited woman.

"Well, that sucks." Tonks said, making a face.

"It's alright." Hermione said. "There aren't any guards on the door. With the proper key, I could just open them and walk inside."

"No guards?" Sirius asked suspiciously. "How do you know?"

Hermione smirked. "Don't be stupid, Sirius. I'm a hunter." Hermione pulled her sleeve up, and pointed to her watch. The face was flickering slightly, but it was very dim. "My vampire detector would be going haywire if I there were anything on the other side of these doors."

Sirius was ready to break in. "If there aren't any guards, then why not just…" Sirius pulled his wand.

"No!" Hermione moved faster than Sirius would have thought possible, and twisted the wand right out of his hand. "I told you! No Magic!"

"What's the big deal, Hermione?" Remus asked. He's never seen Hermione act so panicked before.

"I've heard rumors about this place." Hermione said, keeping her voice low. "Some of the slayers say that inside this keep lives a monster; a truly terrible thing that feeds exclusively on magical things. If you cast any spells, you'll draw its attention, and I would really rather avoid that."

"Then how are we going to get inside?" Tonks asked.

Hermione produced a small case from her pocket. "We'll have to do it the old fashioned way, I guess." Inside her little plastic case was a set of lock picks. "If the rumors are true, the locks can't be enchanted, or the monster would eat them."

Hermione was actually quite a good locksmith, it seemed. It only took her a few seconds to unlock the door. The door was well maintained and opened silently. The foursome of adventurers stepped cautiously through the door.

The entrance hall was very nice, but very dark. As Lupin stepped through the door, the last of the four to cross the threshold, the door slammed shut silently. Sirius immediately tried to get the door to open back up, but it didn't want to budge.

"Sirius, get away from the door." Hermione said. She wanted to make sure he didn't try to bang on it or make a whole lot of noise. Vampires had very good ears.

"We need the door open, so we can escape with Harry!"

"I know that, and keep your voice down, moron." Hermione snapped. "We just entered a VAMPIRE enclave, and the sun is _up_. The door is obviously going to shut again. It's going to allow entry, but not exit. We'll blast it open on our way out, when we can use magic. Right now, let's find Potter. I want to get the hell out of this place as soon as possible."

"Right," Remus said, "let's get Harry and get out. This place gives me the creeps."

"Well, it looks like the only door is that one." Tonks pointed to the large doors at the other end of the entrance hall. The foursome approached the door. It swung open easily, and they made their way inside.

The room they entered was obviously the Great Hall. Although there weren't any lights, it was apparent that the room was massive. Hermione took the lead, glancing at her vampire detector. The flicker was brighter, there were vampires close by.

The group made it to middle of the hall before it happened. Hermione's vampire detector went nuts, buzzing and flashing. "Sun Stones!" Hermione yelled.

Each of the adventurers pulled a sun stone from their pockets. The light illuminated the faces and outlines of four vampires, who flinched and backed up. "Back off!" Sirius yelled.

The lights came up in the room. Hermione squinted momentarily, and noticed something that she'd hoped never to see again.

"Hermione," the red-headed vampires purred, "Kel'thaza. Shin'wha?"

Hermione gulped visibly, and clutched at her belly unconsciously. "A-Anara…" She whispered. "She..Shek'thet."

Anara looked at her strangely. "Shek'thet? Wan qui'ell Shek'thetnan."

Sirius was very confused. "What language is that?"

Anara looked surprised. "Hermione, nek'shen?"

Hermione shook her head. "We'ne nek'shen."

"I'd hoped you learned your lesson." Anara sighed. "It's been nearly a year. What made you decide to change your mind?"

"I…I haven't" Hermione gulped. This was not going the way she's wanted it to. "They're wizards…they're looking for a boy."

"Ah, I see." Anara smiled. "And what boy are you looking for? As I said, this is not the best place to look for a boyfriend, Hermione, although you do look sweet enough to eat."

"Look here!" Sirius yelled, losing his patience. "We're here for my godson! Give me back my Harry!"

"Harry?" Anara said. "I don't know of any Harry. Are you sure that he's here?"

Hermione wanted to make sure this didn't get ugly. Anara was more than a match for all of them. The four other vampires surrounding them weren't going to be easy either. "A man came here last night, Anara. His name was Voldemort."

"I know of what you speak, Hermione. What about him?"

"He told his followers that he tortured a servant." Hermione said, trying to stay calm. "He said that the servant was Harry Potter."

Anara's face lit up with recognition, and her eyes turned back to their original green. "I know he tortured Master Moonshadow's valet, but his name isn't Harry."

Sirius was gaping at the vampiress in awe, looking at eyes that he hadn't seen in eighteen years. "Moony…are those?"

Remus was just as stunned. "They cant be, Padfoot. Lily wasn't…."

Hermione was remembering the last time she'd hunted vampires. After killing a weak clan-less vampire, she'd stumbled across Anara. Thinking that she was just another clan-less one, Hermione had wasted no time in attacking the woman. Hermione had been quickly disarmed, and found herself at the mercy of the powerful assassin.

Anara had explained, in detail, just how stupid Hermione had been to attack a Shadow Stalker, the vampire equivalent of the slayers guild. After procuring Hermione's promise that she would never hunt against clan-affiliated vampires again, Anara had given Hermione a particularly painful gift. Anara had sliced her own hand with a long dagger, and then dragged the blade straight across Hermione's belly. The vampire nation called this ritual the _Jit'kira,_ the 'Blood Promise.'

It took several weeks for the wound to heal, and Hermione wasn't allowed to heal it with magic. When the wound finally closed, Hermione found she could both speak and understand '_Kirash,'_ the magical language spoken only by those who had vampire blood running through their veins. Hermione was confused for a few days, until she figured out that it was truly a gift for her, since she could now ask each vampire, in its own language, what clan they belonged to. Anara had told her that she could continue to slay vampires, but was forbidden to hunt any vampires under the protection of a clan.

Still, the powerful vampire had spooked her, and she hadn't hunted any vampires since that night. Now, the first time she walked back into the strange world, she met the very vampire that had scared her out of it.

"Please, Anara, let me explain this." Hermione pleaded. "We're not hunting, I swear! Harry Potter is important to the magical world, and to these two men personally. They were told that he died eighteen years ago, but were told last night that he was still alive. This man here is Harry's godfather. He just needs to know that Harry's alive."

"I am not familiar with any of our servants who carries that name, Hermione." Anara said. "Please describe this 'Harry Potter' for me."

Sirius snapped out of staring at Anara's eyes, which looked just like Lily Potter's. "Black messy hair, bright green eyes, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of six feet tall, and a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He'd be nineteen."

Anara looked very interested, now. "I am sorry." Anara's voice was extremely amused. "I don't have any servants here that fit that description."

"Anara, please tell us." Hermione pleaded. "I know that tone of voice. My headmaster at school always used it too. You know something about him, don't you?"

Anara laughed. "You are very perceptive, Hermione. I had forgotten how smart you were." Anara's smile was truly genuine, and she seemed to be enjoying the conversation. "You just described my son."

"Your SON?" Sirius choked.

"Yes." Anara smiled again, the loving smile that only parents could master. "I found him eighteen years ago, in the home of some terrible muggles. I took him from them before they could abuse the boy further, and had the muggles killed."

"You stole my Godson!" Sirius yelled, whipping out his wand. "Give him back, right now!"

"My SON is none of your concern, little puppy." Anara's smile was decidedly unpleasant, and Sirius was slightly alarmed at the dog reference. "And that little stick is going to get you killed, if you're not careful."

"Sirius! Put the wand away!" Hermione whispered harshly. "Anara, he doesn't mean it, really! He's just distraught!"

"Kle'vash, Hermione." Anara switched back to her native language. "Jek'chan, ot scop'torba."

"What was that, Hermione?" Remus asked quietly. "It didn't sound good."

"Anara wants us to leave. Immediately." Hermione said. "Or, she'll have us killed."

"Bring it on, bitch!" Sirius shouted. "I'll take this castle apart with my bare hands if I have to, but I'm not leaving without my Godson!"

Anara's eyes turned red, "Very well. Just remember that you asked for this, and I gave you the chance to leave." The four other vampires drew their long knives. "Erik, Voleros, scak'scorta. James, Matthew, Shek'theta."

There was a flurry of motion from the vampires, and suddenly all four of the wizards were fighting for their lives. Sirius and Remus had their hands full with James and Matthew, while Tonks and Hermione were trying to survive the onslaught of Erik and Voleros. The vampires were so fast that none of the wizards' spells could hit them, although Hermione was doing alright with her own long knife. Finally, the vampires had the wizards almost defeated, and Hermione pulled her wand.

"Don't make me do this, Anara!" She shouted. "I do not wish to break my promise, but I will if I have to!"

"It's too late for threats, Hermione." Anara said calmly. "You had the chance to leave peacefully."

"SOLUS!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand up to the sky. The solar flare spell was the only sunlight spell strong enough to seriously injure a vampire. It was the slayer equivalent of the Cruciatus curse. The five vampires all fell to the floor, writhing in agony.

"Te'ray'ine-sha Obfusca." A voice said from a doorway. Five stone pillars sprung up from the ground, casting dark shadows across the vampires, and shielding them from Hermione's painful spell.

"Master Moonshadow…" Anara said. "You don't need to be here, master. They're just wizards. We can handle them."

"Anara, I had to come up here. I've never felt the pull of so much magic before." The man in question stepped into the room, and Hermione gasped.

Blitz Moonshadow was a name that she had heard before. He was the leader of the shadow stalkers, and supposedly the strongest assassin that the guild had ever produced. The fact that he was completely ignoring her most powerful sun spell was even scarier. Of course, the scariest thing about the newcomer was the fact that he'd just cast a _spell. _Vampires, although powerful magical creatures, could not cast spells.

Blitz was wearing a mask, but his mouth was lifted in an easy smile. His eyes were dead black, nothing but pools of nothingness. Hermione had never seen a vampire with eyes like that before. In her experience, vampires had irises that turned red when they hunted, but she'd never seen a vampire that could turn the entire eye black.

"End your spell, witch." Blitz ordered. Hermione shook her head. "If you do not end it, I fear I will have to end it for you."

Sirius threw himself at the vampire, hoping the bright light was going to slow it down. A quick and easy maneuver, and Sirius was sent flying across the room. Blitz pulled two knives from his belt, and threw one at Remus. It caught his cloak, just below the armpit, and pushed him against the wall. He tried to pull it out, but he had been stapled to the wall quite neatly.

Blitz jumped into the air just as Tonks cast a spell at him. A quick flip and roll put Blitz right in front of the Auror, and a quick sweep of the legs brought her to the ground, where his fist knocked her out cold. As Blitz stood up, he was within arm's reach of Hermione. The second blade was resting against her throat. "End the spell."

Sirius tried to take advantage of the fact that Blitz had turned his back, and tried to tackle the vampire from behind. Blitz shifted his weight, pulled another knife, and tossed it to the left side of his body. Quickly swapping which hand was holding the knife to Hermione's throat, Blitz snagged the thrown knife with his left hand, and suddenly Sirius was barreling towards the deadly tip of a long knife. He tried to stop, and almost succeeded. As he finally came to rest, he found the tip of Blitz's knife pressing dangerously against the roof of his open mouth.

"One little twist of my body and both of you die." Blitz said. "End the spell."

Hermione had no choice in the matter. She canceled the spell.

"Erik, nik'hesh." Erik stopped his preparations. He was getting ready to cut Remus' throat. "The three wizards may leave. Show them to the door. This one," Blitz's voice was interested in Hermione, "this one stays here."

Sirius and Remus tried to argue and resist, but were physically restrained and carried out of the Keep. Tonks was moved, still out cold, by one of the other vampires. Hermione gulped carefully. The blade against her throat relaxed slightly. "Master Moonshadow…" She whispered. "Please don't kill me…"

"Kill you?" Blitz seemed confused. "What's your name, girl?"

"Hermione Granger," she said.

"Well, Miss Granger, if I had wanted to kill you, I probably wouldn't have taken the time to force you to end your spell." Blitz laughed slightly. "After all, the spell would have ended automatically when you died."

It was very difficult to argue with that logic.

Harry sniffed the air around Hermione. "Anara, isa-scorta nek'shen?"

Anara smiled. Her son was quite good at reading people from the way their magic smelled. "Weta-nek'shen." Hermione, despite the blade to her throat, blushed with embarrassment.

Blitz's surprised eyes turned back to her, and she noticed that the man's eyes were very green, instead of the black that they had been. "The hunter with no teeth?" He sheathed his knife. "Then, what are you doing here, Miss Granger?"

"They're looking for you, Blitz." Anara giggled. Hermione jumped slightly.

"Is this about that Potter thing?" Blitz asked. "I asked the twins about him. They said that he died, like eighteen years ago."

"Blitz, he's not dead. "Anara said. "I found you at his house eighteen years ago, and kept you for myself. I had the muggles, the ones that were supposed to watch over you, killed."

"So, you're telling me that I'M Harry Potter?" Blitz asked. "That doesn't make sense, mom. I'm a vampire, not a wizard."

"The wizard-lord of Hogwarts had you placed with muggles for some sort of odd blood protection." Anara said. "Do you remember how I told you that your mark was special?" Blitz nodded. "The mark, which identifies you as a lightning-child, should not have appeared for another forty or fifty years, my son. When you were attacked, it manifested early, and very violently. The wizard-lord saw it on your forehead, and thought it was some sort of residue scar from the killing curse. He was trying to protect you, I guess."

"But, if that's the case, why would he leave me with muggles?" Blitz asked. The information was confusing him. "How would I eat? I would have died!"

"Dumbledore didn't understand what you were, Blitz." Anara explained.

"Excuse me?" Hermione joined the conversation. "I don't understand any of this. Voldemort said that Harry Potter was not a vampire."

"Miss Granger, let me say this first, ok?" Hermione nodded. "My name is Blitz Moonshadow. I am the leader of the Shadow Stakers, and I do not answer to Harry Potter, ok? You may call me Master Moonshadow, or Blitz."

"Blitz is a lightning-child, Hermione." Anara said. "I know that you've at least heard of them, right?"

"But…But, they're just a legend!" Hermione exclaimed.

"No, they're just very, very rare." Anara said. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors about this place? Lightning-children are vampires that live on magic, Hermione."

"Is that why you won't let me leave?" Hermione asked. "You want a snack?"

Blitz giggled. "No, no, no! You don't understand at all. I live on magic, but I can eat spells, not just core energy. The twins take care of all the magic I need to sustain my health. You're here simply because I wanted to make sure that the wizards with you would learn a lesson about underestimating vampires. I'll let you go in a couple of days, after they have a chance to think about how stupid they were."

"You were the only one of the four that successfully defended yourself against the vampire that I had attack you, so it could only have been you that we kept. Now, the wizards know that they can't match us force-on-force." Anara said. "Even so, you should know that the vampires were holding back quite a bit. Blitz doesn't like killing in his keep, so their orders were to disarm and restrain you only. Erik was angry that you had landed a few of your punches, and was going to take it out on the werewolf."

"Erik is a fine assassin, but he's quite hot-headed." Blitz said.

"Blitz, it's late." Anara scolded. "You can play with your new friend this evening. Time for bed, my son."

Blitz was very young for a vampire, and being the leader of the Shadow Stalkers apparently didn't protect Blitz from the mothering that Anara was bestowing on him. "But...Oh, alright mom." He turned to Hermione. "I've got an extra room in the twins' area. Other vampires aren't allowed there. Kira and Katusha will show you the way. Kira! Take Miss Granger to the twins, ok? Katusha! Follow her, and make sure that Miss Granger doesn't get lost." Hermione almost screamed when the two Nundu ambled easily into the room. "This is Kira, and this little sweetheart is Katusha. They're my sisters. I want to speak to you, Miss Granger, but my mother wants me to head for bed. I will come to see you this evening."

Hermione followed the Nundu for a minute and then turned around to try and escape, but found herself facing the other one. She had no choice but to follow the giant cat. She reached a door a short time later, and the enormous feline indicated that she should open it. Walking into the room, Hermione received the second biggest shock of her life.

"Hermione! What are you doing here?"

"Parvati? Padma?"

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done! This story is getting good now! Send me a review!  



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